Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inclined shelf case.
Description of Related Art
Inclined shelf cases serve to store and provide objects in sales rooms or storage rooms. They are particularly suited to receive rows of similar objects in a space-saving manner. It is a particular advantage that when the lowermost object is taken out, the remaining objects move down due to the effect of gravity so that there always is one object in the take-out position. An inclined shelf is advantageous over an arrangement of objects in vertical columns in that only a part of the weight of the other objects rests on the lowermost object and that the lowermost object is presented in a position for convenient removal so that taking out the same requires little effort. Inclined shelf cases are filled either from the rear side averted from the take-out side, or the inclined shelves are designed as pullouts adapted to be pulled out towards the take-out side.
In both cases it is possible to refill the shelves with new objects from the top so that the first-in-first-out principle can be carried out, according to which the goods that were stored first are also taken out first. Filling the inclined shelves from the rear is disadvantageous in that it requires additional depth of a room.
Inclined shelf cases are often used in pharmacies, where they are most often made of metal. With known inclined shelf cases in which the inclined shelves are designed as pullouts extractable towards the take-out side, these are supported at the shelf body via guide rails and can be pulled out until an end stop is reached that is integrated in the guide rails.
The inclined shelves have a great weight, in particular in the filled state and when they are made of metal, so that after a locking mechanism of the pushed-in inclined shelf is released, the same is highly accelerated due to the great weight and moves towards the open position at a high speed. This may cause injuries to the user or damage an end stop of the inclined shelf. Further, there is a risk that, when the shelf hits against the end stop, the goods accommodated on an inclined shelf fall out of the inclined shelf or become disarrayed as a result of the impulse.
For this reason, spring devices are often provided that act between the shelf body and the inclined shelf and brake the inclined shelf when being pulled out. The spring devices, which may be designed as rubber bands, for example, have sufficient spring force to brake a completely filled inclined shelf to such an extent that, when being pulled out, it moves against the end stop at a greatly reduced speed. However, as a consequence thereof, an inclined shelf filled only in part or not filled yet does not remain in a pulled out position when being pulled out, but is drawn back into a partly open position. This is disadvantageous especially when refilling such inclined shelves in which the objects are input at the end averted from the user.
Since the inclined shelves are mostly completely removable from the inclined shelf case for easier cleaning, the spring device must be detached from the shelf body or the inclined shelf prior to removal. However, when reinserting the inclined shelves, it is difficult to fasten the spring device to the shelf body or the inclined shelf in a manner that the functionality of the spring device is given. With known systems, the user often has to reach between the inclined shelves to fasten the spring device to the shelf body. In order to have more space for handling the spring device, this is done mostly in a partly open state of the inclined shelf, whereby, however, it is necessary to tension the spring more strongly, resulting in an increased effort when fastening the spring device.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to develop an inclined shelf case of the type mentioned above such that the insertion of inclined shelves and the fastening of the spring device is simplified. Another, independent object of the present invention is to provide an inclined shelf case in which filling in objects is simplified, even with the spring device being active.